New Delhi, Aug 12 - Recognising that the lack of identity proof resulted in harassment and denial of services to the poor and marginalized, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday said high priority would be given to the newly constituted Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) that will provide a single identity number and card to each of the country's 1.17 billion people.

Speaking at the first meeting of the council that will advise the UIDAI, Manmohan Singh said: 'Providing identities to the poor and the marginalized will enhance their access to government services, both at the state level and the centre and will enable delivery of direct benefits to the poor and under-served.'

'Specifically it will improve the delivery of flagship schemes of the central government,' he added.

The council, which was constituted earlier this month with the prime minister and all the top ministers in the government, is expected to advise the UIDAI on the programme, methodology and implementation to ensure coordination between ministries, departments, stakeholders and partners.

In his opening remarks, the prime minister emphasised the need for active participation of all government departments, both at the state and central levels, to ensure the success of the project which was both unique and challenging due to the sheer size and the numbers involved.

Nandan Nilekani, the 54-year-old co-founder of Infosys Technologies, who took charge as the chairman of the UIDAI last month, spelt out the strategy of implementing the ambitious project and outlined the benefits the UIDAI would bring to all stakeholders, especially the poor and marginalized of the country in the areas of service delivery, the government and the financial sector.

Nilekani also emphasised the need for establishing a legal framework for the authority in due course of time.